Greyhound Cafe

Fitzrovia, London

The popular Asia-wide Greyhound Café tasked B3 with bringing the well known and loved Greyhound vibe to the heart of the West in London’s buzzing Fitzrovia.
With restaurants already well established throughout the East - originating in Thailand and spreading to Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Malaysia & Indonesia - Greyhound Café is all about authentic ‘Thai street food with modern twists’.
With this in mind, B3 set out to create a space that felt both familiar to existing fans of the Greyhound group, as well as welcoming those who were yet to experience it.
Working closely with Greyhound Creator Bhanu Inkawat, the team decided to start with some of Greyhound’s iconic focal points – the open kitchen, dark exterior & interior wall finishes and contrasting white highlights. Using this as a starting point, Bhanu wanted us to inject some fresh, more Western ideas into the rooted look and feel of the Eastern restaurants.
Starting with the entrance, we created a lobby using metals and reeded glass, preventing Britain’s cooler temperatures to affect the comfort of the dining areas.
Upon entering, the bar is to the right with the restaurant to your left. Straight ahead, a staircase leads you down to the downstairs bar and bathrooms.
We brought in elements such as the perforated back-illuminated bar front and unique banquette seat with a fluted back and in another area seat backs with belted fixing detail not seen in any of the group’s restaurants before.
In stark contrast to the warmth of the dining and bar spaces, the toilets both provide you with a smack of bright colour; tangerine orange in the gents and bright teal in the ladies – an extra twist in keeping with the brand’s ethos.
The open kitchen in the main dining area is highlighted with Greyhound’s famous black and white typography tiles. Here we wrapped the front in both English and Thai writing to emphasis the cross-over between East and West sensibilities.
The restaurant’s own team of designers were there to add finishing touches to the familiar décor, including a hanging wicker centrepiece, woven paper fish and metal and paper cup art works adorning the spaces and shelving throughout.